KNOWLEDGE IS NOT POWER…WISDOM IS by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC
Introduction: When Sir Francis Bacon first penned the words “Knowledge is Power” in 1598 (ipsa scientia potestas est = knowledge itself is power), he was referring to the will and the omnipotence of God. Since then, it’s meaning has shifted to something else. Now we think that the more information we have on a subject or a situation, the more options we have or more possibilities emerge. There is some truth to that if were talking about inventing something or fixing some motor or visiting a place that we’ve never been before. But, if were talking about trials, “Knowledge is not power…Wisdom is.” That is the title of our message today in our series through the book of James called PRACTICAL BOOK FOR PRACTICAL PEOPLE. Turn to page #1849. Keep in mind that James was writing to the believers among the twelve dispersed tribes of Israel who had been scattered over the past 800 years. They were outsiders before, but now, they were outsiders among the outsiders. They were facing some tough times and may have been tempted to run. They were becoming unstable. James was teaching them how to navigate through trials and stay grounded, and he’s also teaching us the same.
James 1 (page #1849) 5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Overall Background: Last week we learned that trials are inevitable, unpredictable, and variable.(Meaning – they will come in your life; they will come when you least expect them; and they will come in all forms). Nevertheless, James tells us, “Count it all joy” = be glad for that trial – God is doing something in and through you. We need to realize that every trial that comes to us has God’s name on the return address. Meaning – Ultimately, God has allowed that trial to come into our lives to help us to grow spiritually, to discipline us, to draw us towards Him, and even prove us (like Job). So how should we react to trials –KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE FUTURE OUTCOME.
Now someone might say – “I guess I just need to sit back, be joyful, and keep my eyes on the future.” It’s not that simple. Every trial has a point where we must make a decision or decisions. Every trial will bring you to a fork in the road – which road will you take. Should I take the easy road or the high road? Should I bail out or should I face the storm? You have a decision or decisions to make. You can’t say like Yogi Bera – “I came to a fork in the road and I took it!” In times of trials, we make decisions motivated by fear, anger, insecurity, envy, pride, doubt, etc. This is where Job stood firm and did not sin. You can’t always trust the butterflies in your stomach and your heart rate going up because of adrenaline as the indication that God is guiding you. What is your motive in that decision? Is it self or is it God and his word?
And, decisions have consequences. Someone once said: “We make our decisions and then our decisions make us.” Have you heard someone say, “I wish I could go back.” OR “I made my bed and now I have to lie in it.” What they are saying is “I came to a fork in the road, and I chose the wrong road.”
Not only that, sometimes the decisions are not right or wrong roads but right or wrong perspectives. Some people blame God or self or others or even Satan. All these things keep us from making the right decisions.
Bottom Line: Unstable People Make Unstable Decisions. Don’t forget that James is writing to a people who had been scattered. They were outsiders of outsiders.
In times like these what we need is not WEALTH (some problems money can’t solve), STRENGTH (some problems can’t just push through), FRIENDSHIP (some problems you can’t even share with friends), GRACE (it’s very important but for a different purpose), OR DELIVERANCE (you can pray – “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, but deliverance from trial is not promised”). WE NEED WISDOM.
Listen again to the context: James 1 (PAGE #1849) 2 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom…”There is a little sarcasm in that statement – “If anyone lacks wisdom.”
1. YOUR GREATEST NEED DURING A TRIAL IS WISDOM.
People often confuse wisdom with knowledge. There is a big difference.
| KNOWLEDGE | WISDOM |
| Comes from information (T.V. magazines, or google) – Watching “Jeopardy” will not help you. | Warren Wiersbe, “Someone has said that knowledge is the ability to take things apart, while wisdom is the ability to put them together.” |
| Comes from education (school, colleges) – I have been involved in higher education. I have met brilliant academics, but they have no common sense. | While information, education, and even experience will fail, WISDOM WILL NEVER BE WRONG. |
| Comes from experience (hard knocks of life) – There might be some wisdom through life experiences, but it is still not wisdom. Sometimes, experience may just reinforce wrong responses.Also, as someone once said, “Experience is the best teacher, but the tuition is high.” | Wisdom is “the insight into our human circumstances and situations that enables us to make the right decision.” |
| Comes from success (how to climb the ladder) – If success was wisdom then the actors/actresses in Hollywood should be the wisest people in the world. How is it that they can play a wonderful husband on the screen, but they cannot make one marriage work in their personal lives. | Wisdom is what you need when you are tired of the self-help books – raise children, change bad habitsWisdom is what you need when you cannot throw money at your problem – marital problemsWisdom is what you need when the road of experience runs out – conflicts with people in your life. |
For e.g. Maybe you have become secure in your life now. But do you remember a time when you were desperate for someone to give you the right advice. What you were looking for was WISDOM – “I have to make a decision, but I don’t want to be wrong.”
HOW CAN YOU GET THIS WISDOM? 5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…”
RECOGNIZE THE TRUE SOURCE OF WISDOM – GOD
Proverbs 2:6 “For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;”
Background: The man who said those words was King Solomon. After his father David, he became King of Israel – I Kings 3 4 Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. . .”
For e.g. After I answered God’s call to the ministry, I became acutely aware of something that was lacking in my life. I was a good student, hardworking, and diligent. But, there was one thing lacking – WISDOM.
Application: Sadly, there are many who parade and pretend as if they have got it all figured out. Or they are looking for wisdom in all the wrong places.
2. GOD’S PROMISE WHEN WE ASK FOR WISDOM.
5 “…who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
- liberally – GENEROUSLY
This may be the only time that God is a liberal!
Matthew 7:7-11 7“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
- WITHOUT FINDING FAULT – without reproach
For e.g. If you grew up in a home where nothing was good enough or worked somewhere where the supervisor would get upset if you did not get it right the first time. If you messed up, they would never let you live it down. Not so with God. If you are facing a tough decision, stop stressing about it, complaining about it and start praying for wisdom. God will answer generously and without finding fault.
3. THE CONDITION FOR GETTING WISDOM IS FAITH.
6 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”
Background: James is probably thinking about the Sea of Galilee. It is only 15 miles long and 7 miles wide. But, it is very violent at times. The strong winds sweep down the mountains. It is like a cyclone. It goes from being peaceful and serene to being violent and fatal in moments. I’ve been on the Sea of Galilee many times, last one was in January. The Sea can look like glass one moment and become stormy the next. Again, don’t forget to whom James is writing – the people of the Dispersion. They already didn’t have roots but now becoming believers, they really had no roots left.
Personal example: When I first came to America, someone said to me, “Oh poor you, you don’t have anybody…” It was tempting to milk that, but I knew better. I had people. People who have nobody will go to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, this is where our society is now because of the breakdown of the family.
A CHRISTIAN WHO LIVES IN DOUBTS IS LIKE THE WAVE OF THE SEA. ONE MINUTE THEY ARE ALL EXCITED AND CONFIDENT. THE NEXT MINUTE THEY ARE ALL DEPRESSED AND CONFUSED.
7 “For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man (dipsuchos = an unsusual word meaning “two souled” or “divided soul”), unstable (akatastatos = restless) in all his ways.”
They may have been tempted to bring up Abraham – Abraham was a pilgrim. He was not homeless. They may have been tempted to bring up Jesus – “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” True, but Jesus was also the Son of God and the “heaven of heavens cannot contain him.”
Don’t misunderstand: We all go through periods of doubts. Evangelist Manley Beasley said to his friend: “Doubt is not a sin. It is a legitimate place where a believer may end up. It is a place where you are faced with having to either believe a lie about your circumstances or the truth of God’s Word. Once God quickens the truth in your heart, you respond in faith; you turn from your doubt. Doubt is not sin – staying there is sin.”
THE ONLY REMEDY IS SOLID FAITH. Matthew 21 21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” In Matthew 17, he even mentions the mustard seed size of faith!
Adrian Rogers – Pray and doubt, you’ll do without. Pray and believe, you will receive
Application: There are people who came to me for wisdom in some trial. I prayed with them to seek God’s will. Next thing I know, they had already done things their way. They paid a heavy price for that.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Application: How do you pray for your problems? Do you pray as if everything depends on God or do you pray and doubt.
WHAT IS THE FINAL OUTCOME? James 1. 9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
David Jeremiah: “God’s testings have a way of bringing about equality in His family.”
YOU HAVE HEARD ME SAY THAT TRUTH IS A PERSON. WISDOM IS NOT A TRICK, A CATCHALL PHRASE, A CLEVER IDEA. IT IS ALSO A PERSON – 1 Corinthians 1 (page #1755) 24 “but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Application: Do you need wisdom in your trials? Do you know Jesus? Do you know someone who needs wisdom?